Amy Klobuchar wants BP criminal probe after oil spill disaster

Photo: uscgd8

Deepwater Horizon burns and an environmental disaster looms

BP, the oil company staring down the maw of a vast environmental disaster after its Deep Horizon drilling rig blew up in the Gulf of Mexico, may have offered the federal government a bargeload of hogwash when it said it knew how to handle epic oil spills like the one that's now landed in its lap, Sen. Amy Klobuchar and six of her colleagues said today in a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder. They want him to launch a criminal investigation.

"In the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, it does not in any way appear that there was 'proven equipment and technology' to respond to the spill, which could have tragic consequences for local economies and the natural resources of the Gulf of Mexico," she and the other senators said in the letter. "We are writing to ask that you open an inquiry into whether British Petroleum (BP) made false and misleading statements to the federal government regarding its ability to respond to oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico."

Full text of the letter here.